Rob Plumb was born August 29, 1957 in Kingston, Ontario. The 10th choice, 163rd overall selection of the Detroit Red Wings in the 1977 NHL Entry Draft, Plumb is a graduate of the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League's Kingston Canadians.

After three seasons with Kingston, Plumb joined the Central Hockey League's Kansas City Red Wings in 1977-78 a team with whom he spent the majority of the season with before making his NHL debut with Detroit that same year. Plumb played in seven games with Detroit scoring his first two NHL goals, before returning to Kansas City the following year.

Even though for the second consecutive season Plumb spent the majority of the year with Kansas City, he did manage to play in seven more games with Detroit before splitting the 1979-80 season with the American Hockey League's Adirondack Red Wings and the International Hockey League's Kalamazoo Wings.

Plumb spent the entire before spending the entire season with the Kalamazoo in 1980-81 earning IHL Second Team All-Star honors after finishing second in the league in points with (109).

Following the 1980-81 season, Plumb spent the next seven seasons in Switzerland playing for different teams before calling it a career following the 1987-88 season.

Throughout his career, Rob Plumb played in 14 NHL games, scoring three goals while adding two assists for five points.